Here is the first episode of Dynamo, a crazy indie scifi web series that is one of the coolest (and silliest) things I've seen in a while. With visual effects that are dreamy and evocative, Dynamo is a bizarre peek into a post-apocalyptic future where it seems there is only one city left on Earth. A weird cast of characters — including a wanted criminal, a "superintelligence agent," a mysterious bearded man from space, a ninja who lives in the "dustlands," and an adorkable couple who like stargazing — are all living in this weird future Earth, their paths crossing and diverging. At first, it will seem like a lot of random stories, but be patient. It starts to come together by the third episode.

The soundtrack and design combine noir, cyberpunk, westerns, samurai tropes, and classic science fiction into one gorgeous, extremely fun mindbender. The acting is generally quite good too. Episodes range from 5 to 15 minutes, and there are only 4 of them so far, which is frustrating because I get the sense that all these disparate storylines are coming together into something seriously awesome.

VFX designer Ian Hubert describes Dynamo as "a sci-fi/fantasty/cute cyberpunk web series made for people who don't mind being confused, by people who try really hard." All the CG is done in the open source program Blender.

Advertisement

Here's the official synopsis:

It's a convoluted puzzle about the nature of reality (and monsters! and horrible romance!) It's a narrative with layers of interlocking pieces . . . and it's pretty wacky!

And, I would add, genuinely funny. I don't know what it is, but I like it. And I want more.